I first saw this topic the day you posted it and I was hoping you would get some other responses as I was also looking for a practice pad kit. But, after researching what was available, and not wanting to break the bank, I ended up buying the DW "Go Anywhere" practice pad kit:
http://www.dwdrums.com/smartpractice/goanywhere.htmI would probably have gone with mutes for my kit if my drums were not so close to the kids' bedrooms. The DW pad kit lets me practice downstairs later at night.
Anyway, my first impressions of the DW pad kit after only a couple of days:
Pros:
1) Stand and pad mounting arms are reasonably sturdy
2) Setup is straightforward, although a bit clumsy.
3) Size is right for my situation.
4) Cost is reasonable.
Cons:
1) Pad arms/mounting system limit pad placement - only one arm has geared tilt adjustment.
2) not crazy about the bass drum pad - but still making lots of adustments.
3) Pads are kind of flimsy compared to other pads I've owned (Remo, Vic Firth, HQ)
Overall, it suits my needs reasonably well. I'm not a particularly heavy hitter, so I expect that the pads will hold up fine for me. It's not huge - I like having it downstairs away from the sleeping family (I'm the night owl). I'm excited to get greatly increased practice time on a multi-pad setup.
As an experiment, for another $50US I bought a Vic Firth 12" single sided pad and Pearl CH-70 cymbal boom arm with mounting bracket to use as the snare on this pad kit. The Vic Firth pad is awesome! using it with the Pearl boom arm is realy solid. It feels so much better than the DW pads that came with the kit. But it would cost at least $350US to build a 6-piece pad kit with Vic Firth pads and cymbal boom arms. That's twice the $175US I paid for this setup.
I plan on playing this pad kit alot, so I'll post again if there are major issues that arise from continued use.
